Recently I have been thinking about the Hurdman Station and whether there would be an easy way to get more buses through that station. I spent some time watching how well the buses flow through the station during the afternoon peak period and I was impressed that it works as well as it does. There are times when a line of five or six buses from the east can build at the all-way stop to the east of the station, but that is more the exception; and the backlog seems to clear up within minutes. This surprised me a bit since I had heard stories about how over-loaded the Hurdman station was and how the central platform tied the buses up in knots. What I saw was a very busy station, but not a failing one. On the west end, there seems to be a steady flow, but nothing in the way of a back-up was seen.
That said, the intersection on the east end does get backed up a bit every now and again. Every bus must stop at the four-way intersection, plus, this is the only pedestrian crossing facility to the station from any direction. There are also a good number of ‘Out of Service’ buses using the East and South-East Transitways for relocations so they also pass through this intersection; as well as buses coming out of the Hurdman bus lay-up.
Figure 1: Hurdman Station's existing configuration (facing south)
Because the station has a central platform, the all buses must cross the opposing stream when arriving at and departing from the Station. Also, with this intersection being the only pedestrian access to the station, there are times when buses from all directions must wait while people cross up to three bus lanes.
These access issues are unavoidable without a complete reconfiguration of the station. I am wondering, though, if splitting up functions could lead to smoother bus operations into and out of Hurdman Station. Specifically, I suggest moving the east-bound buses away from the intersection at the east end of the station and routing them along the north of the bus lay-up area to the intersection of the Eastern Transitway and the extension of Industrial Avenue.
Figure 2: Hurdman Station - Rerouted (facing south)
In the diagram, the blue lines represent the path of west-bound buses and the red lines are for east-bound buses. I have also changed the pedestrian path north of the station (shown in grey) so that pedestrians arrive directly at the station and are not required to cross at the busy intersection. By moving the east-bound buses to the south of the bus lay-up area, they no longer go through the east intersection. In fact, it might be possible to have buses from the east travel right through the intersection with yield signs on the South-East Transitway arms. Although this idea is not shown in the diagram, it would speed up buses going from east to west; including those from the Lay-up area.
Also, I have removed the right-turn at this intersection for buses heading south to go back to the south platform. As far as I know, there are no ‘in service’ buses which circle the platform’s east end so I suggest that any bus which needs to go from the north side of the platform to the south side would loop around the Operator facilities island. The only turning buses at this intersection will be those coming from the north-bound South-East Transitway into the station, and those ‘out of service’ buses turning from the Eastern Transitway to go south on the South-East Transitway, by-passing Hurdman Station.
Because Hurdman Station is still a central platform station, the buses must still cross the opposing path as they arrive and leave. In this design, some of those crossings would move east to their own dedicated intersection which is clear of other obstacles – such as pedestrians. In this suggestion, the east-bound buses would not be required to stop (as indicated by the solid red lines); the west-bound buses would yield to them. I chose this configuration because the majority of the west-bound buses are coming down the slope of the Transitway and would have an easier time of accelerating from the stop. Notice that I am suggesting YIELD signs so that none of the buses need to stop if the way is clear; perhaps sensors and signal lights can be used to help guide the bus Operators.
Figure 3: Modified dedicated intersection with Industrial Avenue (facing south)
You will notice that west-bound buses from Industrial Avenue and Terminal Avenue will likely still need to stop if an east-bound bus is visible since it might be difficult to know if that east-bound bus is heading for the Eastern Transitway (turning left) or Industrial Avenue (continuing straight). In theory, if the direction of the east-bound bus were clear, then west-bound buses from Industrial Avenue and buses bound for the Eastern Transitway could mutually turn left without interference or delay; i.e., there would be no need for the west-bound bus to yield.
In order to ensure that this condition could be met more often, it might be possible to CONTRA-FLOW the short extension of Industrial Avenue.
Figure 4: Contra-flow buses along the Industrial Avenue extension (facing south)
The design of the traffic islands at the intersection of the Eastern Transitway and the Industrial Avenue extension would make it very clear for bus Operators which lane to follow; there could be no mix-up to enter the wrong direction lane. At the intersection of Terminal Avenue and the Industrial Avenue extension, there would need to be sufficient signage to prevent confusion and bus Operators would need proper training. Since there are no pedestrians at either of these intersections, the risk of danger to people is quite low. There would also need to be good signage for those vehicles accessing the pumping station.
In summary, the east-bound buses are removed from the intersection at the east end of Hurdman Station and the pedestrians are restricted to only cross at two locations. By moving the east-bound buses away, the number of lanes that the pedestrians must cross is reduced to two; making for less of a delay for the buses. Also, buses from the east might need to only yield to pedestrians; with the lower volume of buses on the South-East Transitway yielding to the buses from the east. Many buses would not need to completely stop at this intersection which could improve bus throughput. In addition, by not forcing every bus to stop there, the level of noise may be reduced for the neighbouring residential tower.
The pathway to the north of the station is modified so that it provides better direct access directly to the station, and guides people to the approved side of the intersection to cross.
The east-bound and west-bound buses would still need to cross paths, but would do so at the dedicated intersection of the Eastern Transitway and the Industrial Avenue extension. Again, to speed the operation, not all buses would be required to stop. In fact, the east-bound buses would have priority and not be required to stop at all. The west-bound buses would yield as required. If the west-bound buses were becoming backed up, an east-bound bus could stop and allow the west-bound buses to clear the intersection, although this should not be necessary since there should be adequate breaks in the east-bound bus stream. Buses arriving at the station from the Eastern or South-East Transitways seem to do so with gaps between buses.
By changing the bus-only extension of Industrial Avenue to have the buses drive on the left (contra-flow), buses from that route would not be interrupted at all by east-bound buses.
Although not specifically shown by the blue lines, where ever buses are merging together, for example, immediately south of the Eastern Transitway and Industrial Avenue extension intersection, there would be twined lanes for a distance to ensure smooth merging.
At this point, I don’t think there is an issue with the buses crossing at the west end of the station; although I’d like to try giving the west-bound buses a clear path, with the buses arriving at the station yielding to them, instead of the two-way stop. There should also be no right-turns (at the west end of the platform) at the same intersection that east-bound buses are crossing; all buses should go straight through the intersection and then there can be a ramp to turn back.
Figure 5: West intersection changes are optional (facing south)
Not shown explicitly, there would be a YIELD sign for the east-bound buses.
Alternatively, the buses which are looping around the west end of the station can be removed before the east-bound buses would need to yield to them. This would mean fewer buses to yield to for the east-bound buses.
Figure 6: Alternative optional west end changes (facing south)
So that is my current thinking about Hurdman Station: Do you think it would help the bus flow into and out of the station?
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